Fulham right-back Sascha Riether is a reported target of Bundesliga side Schalke.

Riether made a positive impression during his debut season at Fulham

Schalke are said to be keen to bring in the Fulham Player Of The Season to strengthen their defence and provide competition for Japan international Atsuto Uchida.

Former Cologne defender Riether only recently joined Fulham on a permanent basis after he spent last season on loan at Craven Cottage.

Riether, 30, impressed during his first year in Premier League and has previously spoken highly of Fulham and London life.

But the defender, who has been capped twice before by Germany, could be turned by the prospect of playign Champions League football with Schalke should they get through the qualifiers in August.

It is reported the clubs have already had preliminary contact, but local newspaper WAZ quotes Schalke general manager Horst Heldt as saying that a transfer fee is still to be agreed. “If the asking price is too high, it will not happen," he said.

Elsewhere, Schalke have not exercised their buy option for Dinamo Kiev attacker Raffael, who spent the last six month at the club. "We want to hand more minutes to our talent Max Meyer," Heldt explained.

Raffael is now set to join league rivals Borussia Monchengladbach and reunite with his former Hertha BSC coach Lucien Favre, according to Borussia Monchengladbach magazine torfabrik.de.